ML19309H064
| ML19309H064 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Dresden  |
| Issue date: | 01/30/1980 |
| From: | Percy C SENATE |
| To: | NRC OFFICE OF CONGRESSIONAL AFFAIRS (OCA) |
| Shared Package | |
| ML19309H061 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 8005080288 | |
| Download: ML19309H064 (2) | |
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3Cnifeb Stafes Senate W A S H ING TO N, D.C. 20S10 January 20. ~950 Nu: lear ?.egulatory Commission Ccngressional Liaisen
'a'a s hi n g t on D. C. 20555
Dear Sir:
3ecause of the desire of this office to be responsive to all inquiries and communica:icns, your consideration of the attached is requested.
Your findings and views, in duplicate form, will be greatly appreciated.
Please reference file no.
0029151031, and return the attached
- r;
~3 y constituen:'s letter with your response.
Thank you for your assistance in this regard.
Sin:erely, M
Charles H. Percy United States Senator CHP /a j En lesure l
e
1 2006 Southwood Drive Champaign IL 61820 January IS, 1980 Sen. Charles Percy 230 S. bearborn, Rm. 3960 Chicago IL 60604
Dear Charles Percy:
Enclosed is a copy of a letter to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission acting chairman, Robert Ahern.
It is a request for a public hearing and an environmental impact statement about the effects of the decontamination of the Dresden Nuclear Plant planned for Frbruary. The chelating agents used to clean up the cooling system may aid in the rapid spreading of the radioactive isotopes into the environment.
All efforts on your part to bring absat this environmental impact statement will be greatly apprecisted.
Sincerely,
~N.d./
Jean Nayes 1
l 2006 Southwood Drive f
Champaign IL 61820 January 14, 1980 Robert Ahern Acting Chairman Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington D.C.
20555
Dear Robert Ahern:
The more I hear about a planned February decontamination of the Dresden Nuclear Plant the more alarmed I become about possible effects the experiment would.have on people and our ecological
- system. The planned-flushing of 85,000 gallons of a DOW highly corrosive chelating agent
. through the Dresden pipes to remove the radioactive metal oxide deposits will result in 1200 55-gallon drums containing 3000 curies of radioactive material, according to an NRC response to a letter from Dr.. Dean Hansell of.the Illinois Attorney Genaral's office. A study done at Oak Ridge National Laboratory reported in Science, June 30, 1979 found that chelating agents in radioactive waste hasten the migration of radionuclides away from original burial sites.
It seems quite urgent to me that there be a public hearing before the February decontamination date--or at the least, a proper environmental impact statement by then.
Could I receive some sort of newsletter with information about hearings and the impact statement? Thank you.
Sincerely, f
d4(/
ff['iD Jean Mayes cc.
President Carter Sen. Adlai Stevenson Sen. Charles Percy Rep. Edward Madigan Sen. Stanley Weaver Rep. Helen Satterthwaite Rep. Timothy Johnson sowom br l
l
rRrSIEN DECCNTAMINATICN FACTS
- Illinois Safe Energy Alliance P.O. Box 469 Antioch, II. 60002 (September 13,1979)
The nucler.r industry plans to "decentaminate" Dresden Nuclear Plant, a 19-To " decontaminate" means year old 200 megawatt reactor located near Morris, Il.During reactor operation, radioactive to clean radioactive crud from pipes.
These deposits oxidee called " crud" are deposited on the insides of metal pipes.
"'Where create high radiation fields which are dangerous to the health of workers.
a man could go indefinitely in 1960, ec could stay for 45 minutes in 1969, he says a Com. Ed. spokesperson." (Procres-can now only go for a minute and a half.'In order for Dresden I to continue operations, the sive, Aug.1979, p. 41) must be removed.
85,000 gallons of a Dow chemical solvent called NS-1 will be flushed through The public does not have access portions of the reactor's primary coolant system.to the exact contents of NS-1 b However, we know the solvent will contain one, er more chelating agents which are expected to chemically bond to the,rud to permit removal from pipe walls, valves, joints, etc.
Awaitir4 " decontamination," Dresden I has been closed for nearly one year.
With the fuel removed to an on-site storage Pool, the coolant will be drained from Temporary piping and support equipment belitg installed for the primary systen.
this cleanirs process will connect the reactor's primary system with a new chem-ical cleanirs facility especially designed for processing the resulting radioac-tive liquid.
Solvent centaining dissolved radioactive deposits will be drained to large The primary coolant system will be rinsed with demin-tanks in shielded vaults.
eralized water to remove residual solvent.
(The usefulness of demineralized water for this step has been questioned.) The solven+ ~ +aining crud will be concen-ester plastic resin (which fo.rms trated cy evaperation and solidified into'a vil,.This " solid" will then be transferre e natrix).
Water from evaporation will be site pessibly st Beatty, Nev. cr Hanford. Wash.
cleaned and reused at Dresden I.
Accordir4 to an NRC response to a letter from Mr. Dean Hansell (I.S.C. A.),
The Atterney General's Office states 1200 55-gallon drums containing 3000 curies of radicactive material will result. If the radioactive material is uniformly distributed throughout the solidification agent, one can conclude that each bar-rel will contain 2t curies of radioactivity. One biolo61 cal chemist has termed it. " a ned hot stuff f*
It is pcssible that twice the estimated amount of solvent may have to be used.
In other words, it is pessible US-1 can abscrb only a certain amount of iron.
that iron, instead of radioactive cru:1, will take up the capacity of the solvent in which case a second flushirs will have to be carried out.
Cecenta _ination wastes are bonded to chelating agents.
Expected radionuclides incluje prinary cobalt, but also Cerium, Manganese, Zirconium, Cesium, etc. A study dene at Cak Ridge National Laboratory found that chelating a6ents hasten When radioactive the nigration of radionuclicies away from original burial sites.
wasteflow level), is buried it is hoped that radienuclides will be adscrbed by the sedi.ent and re.ain away fren any groun:ivater. The presence of chelates, hewever, interferes with adsorption by the sediment allowirs the radionuclides to migrate Acccrding to envirennentalist Kay Drey of St. L'ouis. Mo. (Phone 314/725-freely.
. it just goes 7676.. "It's like puttire radioactive waste on roller skates.
1 tipptr4 th cugh the envirennent "
Ms. Irey has thoroughly researched the issue
I FACT SHEET PAOE 2 and is especially cencerned the chelates will be added to both major kinds of re-actor systems on a routine basis greatly aggravating the already severe radioac-tive waste disposal problem.
This " solution" is preposed by the NRC and utilities. However, no ene can guarantee that ary area will remain dry fcr the extremely long time periods this waste re ains dangerous to life. Fredicticns of changing weather patterns and heights of water tables are impossible to make. Furthermore, radionuclides can leach out even in a "drf' area (in a manner similar to the operation of a flea collar) and thus be free to be carried by even scant amounts of rain or ground-water.
One prominent scientist has termed the possible interaction of chelates and other wastes as" horrifying."
If states of Nevada and Vashington find out about these complex wastes, they might refuse to accept them, just as South Carolina refused to accept certain wastes from the Three Mile Island plant.
No one can be sure whether or not the wastes will really be " low-level".
The NRC defines low-level radioactive waste as containing "less than 10 nanocuries of transuranic contaminants per gram of material."
Mr. Steve Lang of Com. Di.
"does not expect any," but the possible presence of transuranics cannot be ruled out. The presence of transuranics (any element having an atomic number greater than that of uranium) is especially significant because they have extremely long half-lives and may remain dangerously toxic for a million years.
Questions that remain unanswered:
- 1) What exposure will workers receive dur-ing decentanination? 2) Will radioactive releases to the environment be limited to levels permitted by regulations? 3) What effect will the corrosive solvent have on the various joints, welds, and valves which are depended en to protect the public health but are not accessible fer thorough inspection? 4)Howmany truckloads and at what risk will have to be shipped? 5) How can citizens be sure that tremendous industry pressure is not being successfully placed on the NRC to overlook potential problems? 6) Why hasn' t the NRC required that a rigorous study called an " Environmental Impact Statement" be performed?
Eecontamination is expected to cost nearly $36 million. Since the build-up of radicactive crud was not forseen by the industry, the cost fcr removal was not included in u-ility cost calculations.
$8.2 million of the total cost will be prov'ided by the Department of Energy.
Half the remaining expense will be paid by olectricity censumers in northern Illinois.
The other half will be designated an operating expense.
Dresden I has been closed down for n(crly a year while awaiting decontaminatien. This idle senerating capacity os another added expense for both rate-payers and stockholders.
Science, June 30, 1078.
.